Don't Give Up
by Th3Ph4nt0miz3r
Summary: Entry for Tigergirl713 and MT4 contest. Po teaches a group of kids a very important lesson.


It was a Saturday morning and the sun was starting to make its appearance known to the villagers of the Valley of Peace. High above the Valley in the Jade Palace, a small goose was getting ready for his daily task... Ring the morning gong. He was stretching out, trying to shake the sleep out of his head. He got into position beside a long piece of wood that was being suspended on both extremities by rope. He took a deep breath, then with all the might a goose his size had, he pulled back the log as far as he could then pushed it forward with all his strength and the log made contact with the gong and let out a loud ring.

The Five and Po that were in the barracks jumped out of bed an ran to the entrances of their rooms to greet master Shifu.

"Good morning Master." the Five and Dragon Warrior said in unison. Master Shifu was somewhat surprised when he saw Po at the entrance of his room bowing with the rest. Usually he was the last one up.

"Good morning students. Today, after breakfast, you will train until a little before noon. Remember we have the children from the village coming up here for their monthly lesson." Shifu informed.

Everyone bowed and said "Yes Master." They liked to teach the children about Kung Fu, but none of them were more exited than Po. He loved kids and he enjoyed playing with them as much as he loved Kung Fu. Po and the others were making their way to the kitchen to eat breakfast. As soon as Po entered he made his way to the shelves to start making breakfast. The Five sat down around he table and a conversation was started.

"So, why are you so exited Po?" Viper asked the panda.

"Its just that I'm so looking forward to show the kids a few Kung Fu moves, tell them stories about some of the greatest Kung Fu Masters that ever lived and I can't wait to tell them about our adventures." Po said with a exited expression.

"Your always exited when the kids come up to the Jade Palace." Monkey said.

"What can I say, I like the kids. All that energy and curiosity reminds me of when I was a kid myself. I used to be hyperactive, clumsy, and really curious. Not to mention I was sort of naive." Po said as he gave everyone their bowls.

"Huh, not much has changed then." Mantis joked.

"Hey!" Po pouted playfully. The began eating and chatting some more.

"We should head to the training hall before we're late." Tigress said. They soon finished their breakfast and headed of to the training hall not wanting to be late.

For the rest of the morning Po and the rest of the Five trained and sparred together until it was almost noon. They washed up and got ready for when the kids arrived.

About at exactly midday the kids started arriving with their parents to drop them off. When the children saw Po they started surrounding him and pleading him to either tell them a story or show them some awesome Kung Fu moves or play with them. Po lead them to the courtyard in front of the Hall of Heroes.

Po did as they asked and told them about the time he and the Five defeated Shen and his cannons, leaving out the unsuitable parts of course.

"...and that's how we defeated him, by working together. Sure, those cannons packed a punch but there's nothing you can't do when you have inner peace." Po finished off the story.

"AWESOME!" shouted a little pig boy.

"That must have been so cool!" said a group of bunnies.

"Can you show us how you re- redi-" a duckling tried to ask but couldn't pronounce the word.

"You mean redirected? You want me to show you how I redirected the cannonball?" Po asked. All the kids that were around him cheered a "YES!"

"Alright but I need something thrown at me." Po said. A little bunny picked up a pebble and weakly tossed it at Po but it only bounce off his belly.

"Good idea. But I need it thrown a lot more faster." Po said encouraging the idea. Po then saw Tigress standing in front of the entrance to the Hall of Heroes and called out to her.

"Hey Tigress, think you can help me to show them how it's done?" Po asked.

Tigress nodded and started walking towards Po. "Of course." she replied. On the way she picked up a rock the size of a peach and went to the other side of the courtyard to launch the rock.

"Alright kids, stand over there to the side so none of you get hurt." Po ordered and the kids quickly obeyed. Then he got into his stances and did 'that thing with his foot' and brought both his arms back then he was ready. "Whenever your ready Tigress." Po said.

Tigress nodded that she understood and brought her left foot forward while the other one was slightly to the back. Her body was angled to the side so she could put more power into the throw.

Po meanwhile began taking deep breaths and focusing on the hand that had the rock. He then closed his eyes for a few seconds and then opened them again.

That's when Tigress brought her right arm back and forced it forward with all her might. The force of the throw made it look like the rock was shot from one of the cannons, it was halfway across the courtyard in less than a second. As for Po it was in slow motion. He saw it coming closer and closer until it was five feet in front of him and that's when he extended his left arm with his hand opened and in one smooth move he caught the rock in his hand and spun his body in the counterclockwise direction using momentum to give the projectile even more speed. When he did two full spins he let the rock fly in the direction where nobody was. The rock now flying at supersonic speed flew right for the wall that surrounded the palace grounds. When it made contact there was a loud * _CRACK*_ and the rock shattered into a billion pieces and also left a spider web crack on the wall.

The children were dumbfounded and looks at the wall with wide eyes, then they looked at Po.

"That...was... AWESOME!" all of them said at the same time.

"That's what I thought the first time I did it." Po chuckled. Then he saw the kids were trying to imitate his pose and movements but failing to get it right. Some of them started getting frustrated and Po saw it.

"Aw come on." a piglet whined. " I can't do it. I'll never be as good as Master Po. I give up." Po hears this and frowned slightly. He then gathered the children together.

"Guys listen. Never say never, even though you try to do what I just did but it isn't coming out right doesn't mean you should give up. Let me tell you something...I also tried many times and I couldn't get it, but I didn't give up and I didn't quit and I practiced and practiced until I got it." Po saw he had their full attention. "Yeah, if you practice you could be the greatest, you could be the best. When the time comes you will even be able to defeat a bandit. You could learn to do amazing things, you could climb a mountain, you could even break rocks like I just did, you could become a Master. You don't need to rely on luck, 'cause all you have to do is dedicate yourself and you can one day find yourself standing in the hall of fame" he said as he gestured to the Hall of Heroes. "and the whole world will know your name." Po said and the children let out small gasps of awe. "Yeah, one day you could be heroes. All you have to do is dedicated yourself and don't give up."

"I wanna be just like you when I grow up." a bunny said and she was accompanied by "Me too!" from the other children. Po chuckled.

"Well if you practice, train and you don't quit, you could end up being better than me!" Po encouraged.

Just then Zeng the goose came waddling over to Po and the group of children and told Po it was time for the kids to go home.

"Looks like its time to go home kids." Po stated.

A chorus of "aw's" was heard. Their parents were arriving to pick them up and bring them home.

"Don't worry, we'll se each other next month." He reassured the children. One by one the children left with their parents. Some waved goodbye to Po and he waved back.

"Remember what i told you." Po said as they left.

When all of them were gone, Po got up and turned around and saw that Master Shifu and the Five were looking at him with smiles on their faces.

"That was a well taught lesson Po." Master Shifu complimented. "Couldn't have done it better myself."

Po bowed and said "Thank you Master Shifu." The rest of them also complimented Po and all seven -if you count Shifu- headed towards the kitchen for dinner.


End file.
